Systems and methods for automated verification and reconfiguration of disconnected network devices

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of disconnecting a network service provided over a network service path include using a computing device that obtains a service identifier assigned to network service and identifies a port of a network device included in a network service path associated with the service. The computing device transmits a request to the network device for port configuration data of the network device and based on the received port configuration data, determines whether the port is assigned to the network service. If so, the computing devices executes a remediation operation which includes transmitting a reconfiguration command to the network device that is adapted to cause the network device to update the port configuration data to free the port.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to disconnection ofnetwork services provided over telecommunication networks and, moreparticularly, to systems and methods for automatically verifyingdisconnection of network devices previously used to provide networkservices that have since been disconnected and reconfiguring suchnetwork devices if not fully disconnected.

BACKGROUND

Telecommunications networks include multiple interconnected networkdevices configured to transport signals and data across the network.Network services are provided over network service paths defined betweenendpoint devices of the network. In addition to the endpoint devices,the network service path may include one or more intermediate networkdevices.

Devices within a network are generally arranged according to physicaland logical topologies. The physical topology provides for the placementof devices within the network and specifies details such as the physicallocation and cabling of the network. The logical topology, on the otherhand, provides how data flows within the network. Accordingly, a networkservice path extending through the network is defined by each of thephysical and logical interconnections of network devices along thenetwork service path.

During commissioning of a network service, both the physical and logicalpaths corresponding to the network service path are established. Forexample, to the extent network devices along the network service pathare not physically connected, cabling may be run between the networkdevices to establish a physical connection. In many instances, newcabling is only required to connect endpoints to existing physicalinfrastructure. Similarly, data flow paths between the network devicesmay be defined by specifying ports of the network devices responsiblefor transmitting and receiving data. Accordingly, to disconnect anetwork service such that the resources associated with the networkservice are available for reuse, both the physical and logical paths ofthe network service path must be properly decommissioned. Moreover, tothe extent one or more systems are used to track network services,inventories and usage of network devices, and the like, such systemsshould be promptly and accurately updated to reflect the resources freedas a result of the service disconnection. By doing so, the freedresources can be readily reused to provision other network services.

It is with these observations in mind, among others, that aspects of thepresent disclosure were conceived.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one implementation of the present disclosure, a method ofdisconnecting a network service provided over a network service pathusing a computing device including a processor is provided. The methodincludes, obtaining, by the computing device, a service identifierassigned to the network service and identifying a port of a networkdevice included in the network service path using the serviceidentifier. The method further includes transmitting a request to thenetwork device for port configuration data of the network device andreceiving, in response to the request, the port configuration data ofthe network device at the computing device. The computing devicedetermines that the port is assigned to the network service from theport configuration data and executes a remediation operation. Theremediation operation includes transmitting a reconfiguration command tothe network device that is adapted to cause the network device to updatethe port configuration data to free the port.

In another implementation of the present disclosure, a method ofdisconnecting network services provided over one or more networks isprovided. Each network service is associated with a service identifierand the method is executable by a computing device communicativelycoupled to the one or more networks. The method includes, for eachdisconnected network service, retrieving network service path data for anetwork service path previously used to provide the disconnected networkservice, the network path data including a port identifier correspondingto a port along the network service path. A network device including theport is then identified by querying an inventory database using the portidentifier, the inventory database storing a list of network devices andport identifiers associated with each of the network devices. The methodfurther includes transmitting a request to the network device, therequest configured to automatically cause the network device to retrieveport configuration data of the network device and transmit the portconfiguration data to the computing device and receiving the portconfiguration data in response to transmitting the request. The methodthen includes determining from the port configuration data that the portis still assigned to provide the disconnected network service. Inresponse to such a determination, a reconfiguration command istransmitted to the network device that causes the network device toupdate the port configuration data to free the port.

In yet another implementation of the present, a system for disconnectingnetwork services in a telecommunications network is provided. The systemincludes a computing device communicatively couplable to a plurality ofstorage systems and a network for providing network services. Thecomputing device is configured to obtain a service identifier assignedto the network service and to identify a port of a network deviceincluded in the network service path using the service identifier. Thecomputing device is further configured to transmit a request to thenetwork device for port configuration data of the network device and toreceive, in response to the request, the port configuration data of thenetwork device. The computing device then determines that the port isassigned to the network service from the port configuration data andexecutes a remediation operation in response. The remediation operationincludes transmitting a reconfiguration command to the network devicethat causes the network device to update the port configuration data tofree the port.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure set forth herein will be apparent from the followingdescription of particular embodiments of those inventive concepts, asillustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that thedrawings are not necessarily to scale; however the emphasis instead isbeing placed on illustrating the principles of the inventive concepts.Also, in the drawings the like reference characters may refer to thesame components or similar throughout the different views. It isintended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to beconsidered illustrative rather than limiting.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example network environment,including a disconnection audit computing device.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a first method, or combination of methods, forauditing network service disconnections.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a second method, or combination ofmethods, for auditing network service disconnections.

FIG. 4 is an example computing system that may implement various systemsand methods of the presently disclosed technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This patent application involves, among other things, systems andmethods for automated verification and reconfiguration of disconnectednetwork devices. In general, the systems and methods disclosed hereindetermine whether network resources used to provide a network serviceare fully unassigned in response to a request to disconnect the networkservice. If a resource is not fully unassigned, reconfiguration isautomatically initiated to properly free the resource. To do so, eachnetwork device associated with provision of the network service isaudited by a computing device to determine if the physical and logicalresources of the network device have been properly freed. To the extenteither a physical or logical resource is identified as being improperlyassigned to a network service, the computing device transmits areconfiguration message to the network device that causes the networkdevice to automatically reconfigure itself to free the physical and/orlogical resource.

Disconnection of a network service generally requires releasing allnetwork resources used to provide the network service and updating anysystems used to track usage of the network resources to reflect thedisconnection. More specifically, releasing network resources involvesdecommissioning a network service path from both a physical and logicalperspective and ensuring that the physical and logical resources freedby the decommissioning process are properly indicated as freed withininventory or similar tracking systems. For example, disconnecting thenetwork service may include both physically disconnecting networkdevices, such as by removing cabling, and logically disconnectingnetwork devices, such as by reassigning or freeing ports of the networkdevices used to transmit data associated with the network service.

When properly disconnected, the resources employed by the disconnectednetwork service are freed to be reused to provision other networkservices. However, given the complexity of telecommunications networksand the potential for operator error (such as failure to fully andproperly perform disconnection tasks, including updating databases orother information sources indicating the availability of networkresources), network resources that should be released as a result ofdisconnecting a given network service may not be properly freed or, iffreed, may not be properly identified as available for reuse.

Improperly identifying a network resource as unavailable negativelyimpacts both financial and performance aspects of a network. First, thenetwork paths leading to and from the resource go unused. As a result,revenues associated with the network resource are no longer realized.Moreover, in many instances, costs associated with maintaining thenetwork resource are nevertheless accrued. Second, the unused resourcemay also impact network performance by foreclosing optimal networkservice paths for delivering network services. For example, the networkresource may lie along the most efficient network service path toprovide a second network service. As a result, provisioning of thesecond network service may only be possible over a less efficientnetwork service path, thereby impacting the overall performance of thesecond network service and the broader network as a whole.

In implementations of the present disclosure, a service identifiercorresponding to a network service marked for disconnection (forexample, a network service that is identified as previously disconnectedor pending disconnection) is received at a computing device, referred toherein as a disconnection verification computing device, of atelecommunications network. The disconnection verification computingdevice retrieves a network service path corresponding to the networkservice and identifies both the physical and logical resources along thenetwork service path. The disconnection verification computing devicethen determines the status of each resource and, more specifically,whether the resource has been properly disconnected. To the extent aresource has not been properly disconnected, the disconnectionverification computing device performs one or more remedial operations.Such remedial operations may include the disconnection verificationcomputing device generating an alert, message, or similar notificationindicating the presence of the discrepancy. The notification may then betransmitted by the disconnection verification computing device to asuitable system for processing. For example, the notification may beused as or used to generate a ticket to be reviewed and handled byinformation technology or maintenance personnel. Remedial measures mayalso include the disconnection verification computing deviceautomatically generating and transmitting a configuration message to thenetwork device(s) associated with the discrepancy. The configurationmessage may then automatically reconfigure the network device to freethe resource for use in provisioning a second network service.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example network environment100. In one implementation, a network 102 includes multipleinterconnected network devices 104-118. The network 102 may include anynumber of network devices, as indicated by a sub-network 120 to whicheach of network devices 104-118 are connected either directly orindirectly. Network devices 104-118 may include, without limitation,servers, routers, switches, server appliances, storage libraries,termination panels, patch panels, and the like, which enablecommunication and/or provide services across the network 102. It shouldbe appreciated that the embodiments of the present disclosure may beutilized in any type of network, including but not limited to, a contentdistribution network (CDN), a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)network, a domain name server (DNS) network, an enterprise network, abackbone network, and the like. It should further be appreciated thatportions of the network may operate using various types of routingincluding, without limitation, IP-based and non-IP-based routing. Forexample, the network 102 may include devices utilizing time divisionmultiplexing (TDM) or plain old telephone service (POTS) switching ifemployed for voice communication. In general, the network 102 of FIG. 1may include any communication network devices known or hereafterdeveloped.

As shown in the network environment 100, the network 102 is coupled tovarious external networks via provider edge devices 122-126. Theprovider edge 122 is communicatively coupled to a border network 128that may be provided and maintained by a business or organization, suchas a local telephone company or cable company, and which providesnetwork/communication-related services to customers of the localtelephone/cable company. The provide edge 124, in contrast, maycorrespond to a media gateway device or a session border controller(SBC) that is coupled to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 130operated by a local exchange carrier (LEC). The provider edge 126, infurther contrast, exchanges communications and/or access content from apublic network, such as the Internet 132.

The network 102 is generally used to provide one or more networkservices that require transmission and routing of data through thenetwork 102 and, more specifically, between endpoints of the network 102along a network service path. For purposes of this disclosure, the termendpoint is used to refer to an initial location and a destination(which may be physical or logical) within a network used to provide anetwork service. Accordingly, at least one of the initial location andthe destination corresponds to a network device, such as the provideredges 122-126, that interfaces with external networks or devices. Thepaths between endpoints used to provide network services are referred toherein as network service paths. Network service paths generally includeboth physical and logical paths. The physical path defines the physicalrelationships between the network devices used to implement the networkservice path. The logical path, in contrast, defines the logicalinterconnections between the network devices and describes the manner inwhich data flows along the network service path.

Provisioning a network service generally requires establishing both thephysical path (such as by physically connecting the network devicesalong the path) and the logical path (such as by mapping ports of thenetwork devices) that define the network service path. Similarly, fulldisconnection of a network service, such that the correspondingresources are freed for use in provisioning another service, requiresdecommissioning each of the physical and logical paths.

To facilitate operation and maintenance of the network 102, one or moredatabases may be maintained that contain data related to servicesprovided over the network 102, the equipment used to provide suchservices, and operations undertaken with respect to the network 102.Such information may be used to determine, among other things, thestatus and use of resources within the network 102, the capacity of thenetwork 102 to handle additional network services, how best to route newand existing network services, and the specific network devices used toprovide existing network services over the network 102. The network 102,for example, includes each of a service database 134, an inventorydatabase 136, a workflow database 138, and a workflow ticket database140.

In the implementation shown in FIG. 1, the service database 134 storesinformation corresponding to network services provided over the network102. For example, each record within the service database 134 mayinclude a service identifier corresponding to a particular networkservice. Each record may further include details regarding the serviceassociated with the service identifier including, without limitation,the status of the service, the type of service, customer details, andthe like. The inventory database 136 includes information regarding thenetwork devices within the network 102. Such information may include,without limitation, a network device type, services provided using thenetwork device, a logical address of the network device, detailsregarding logical interconnections made through the network device, andthe like. In implementations in which records of the inventory database136 indicate services provided using network devices corresponding tothe records, such records may be stored using the service identifiersassociated with the particular service. The workflow database 138 mayinclude predefined task lists for completing operations associated withthe network 102, such as adding new network devices, provisioning newnetwork services, and disconnecting existing network services. Finally,the workflow ticket database 140 may include a list of issued “tickets”corresponding to tasks that have been initiated, including the status ofsuch tasks. The network 102 may further include one or more additionaldata sources 142 for storing additional data relevant to the operationof the network 102, including data related to cost, performance, andefficiency of the network 102. The databases 134-142 may be implementedby and distributed among one or more computing or data storage systemsin any suitable format.

As network services are implemented and disconnected, the correspondinginformation in the databases 134-142 may not be updated correctly or maynot be updated at all. In the context of service disconnections, sucherrors and omissions may lead to network resources being consideredactive and in use when they are actually free and able to be used toprovision other network services or to reroute existing services alongmore efficient network service paths. As a result, the network 102 maybe underutilized. Over time such errors and omissions may collectivelyresult in significant financial and performance losses associated withoperating the network 102.

To address the problems associated with capturing servicedisconnections, the network environment 100 includes a disconnectionverification computing device 144 configured to automatically identifyincomplete network service disconnections. The disconnectionverification computing device 144 collects data stored in the databases136-142 and determines whether the network service path for adiscontinued network service has been freed from both a physical andlogical perspective.

The disconnection verification computing device 144 may also becommunicatively coupled to one or more remote computing devices 146. Incertain implementations, the remote computing devices 146 are computingdevices associated with technicians, network engineers, or otherpersonnel responsible for maintaining and monitoring operations of thenetwork 102, including configuring the network devices 104-118 andinputting and/or maintaining data in the databases 136-142. Accordingly,to the extent the disconnection verification computing device 144identifies issues regarding disconnection of network services, thedisconnection verification computing device 144 may transmit alerts ormessages to the remote computing devices 146 to indicate that remedialaction is required.

In certain implementations, the disconnection verification computingdevice 144 may automatically generate and transmit reconfigurationmessages to the network devices 104-118 in response to identifying thatphysical or logical resources associated with one of the network device104-118 have not been properly released. When received by a targetnetwork device of the network devices 104-118, the reconfigurationmessage may automatically cause the target network device to execute oneor more commands or scripts contained within the reconfigurationmessage. The commands or scripts may in turn cause the target networkdevice to modify configuration data including, but not limited to, oneor more of device settings and a routing table of the network device.For example, the commands or scripts may clear an entry in a routingtable corresponding to a port assignment that should have previouslybeen cleared as part of a service disconnection.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a first method 200 by which adisconnection verification computing device, such as the disconnectionverification computing device 144 of FIG. 1, identifies and addressesincomplete service disconnections. With reference also to FIG. 1, thedisconnection verification computing device 144 is provided a serviceidentifier corresponding to a network service for which a disconnectorder has been received (operation 202). Accordingly, the serviceidentifier may correspond to a network service that has been previouslydisconnected or a network service for which disconnection is currentlypending.

The disconnection verification computing device 144 then identifies theservice associated with the service identifier and the network servicepath used to provide the service (operation 204). For example, incertain implementations, the disconnection verification computing device144 retrieves details regarding the network service from the servicedatabase 134 and determines the network service path based oninformation included in the inventory database 136. Alternatively, theservice database 134 or a separate network service path database maystore network service paths for each service implemented over thenetwork 102.

After acquiring the network service path, the disconnection verificationcomputing device 144 may identify one or more ports of the networkservice path (operation 206) and determine a disconnect state for eachof the identified ports (operation 208). Determining the disconnectstate of a port may include each of determining whether the networkdevice associated with the port has been physically disconnected fromthe network service path and whether the necessary logical changes havebeen implemented to free the port.

To determine whether the logical changes have been made to free theport, the disconnection verification computing device 144 transmits arequest to the network device associated with the port. The request mayinclude a command or script executable by the network device that, whenexecuted by the network device, causes the network device to retrieveport configuration data of the network device and to transmit the portconfiguration data in a response message to the disconnectionverification computing device 144.

The port configuration data generally includes a listing or sub-listingof the ports of the network device. The port configuration data mayfurther include, among other things, status indicators, port labels,port mappings, or other data indicating properties or characteristics ofeach port contained in the port configuration data. For example, incertain implementations, the port configuration data may include a portlabel for each port that includes an identifier from which a serviceprovided using the port may be identified. The port configuration datamay further include a status indicator that may be used to indicate,among other things, whether the port is currently free, assigned toprovide a service, or placed on hold.

In one implementation, determining the disconnect state of a port mayinclude determining whether the port and/or the network device includingthe port has been temporarily placed on hold. A hold may be implemented,for example, if a network service is temporarily taken offline but isanticipated to be reinstated at a future time. As a result, the networkservice path may be maintained such that reactivation of the networkservice requires minimal intervention. To facilitate a hold check, theinventory database 136 may include a field indicating the hold status ofthe port or network device. As a result, the disconnection verificationcomputing device 144 may perform a lookup using an identifier associatedwith the port to determine whether the port or network device iscurrently on hold.

Determining the disconnect state may also include determining whetherthe port and/or the network device including the port has beenreassigned to a different network service. In such a situation, it isgenerally undesirable to disconnect the port or network device as doingso would disrupt the new service. To facilitate a re-use check, theinventory database 136 may include a field indicating the specificservice to which the port or network device is assigned. Thedisconnection verification computing device 144 may then perform alookup using an identifier associated with the port to determine thecurrently assigned service and compare the currently assigned service tothe service for which the disconnection verification is being conducted.To the extent the services are different, the port or network device maybe considered reassigned.

From a logical perspective, determining the disconnect state may includeretrieving configuration information from the network device associatedwith the port. Such information may include, without limitation, a portstatus, a port label, and a cross-connect assignment including the port.

A port status may indicate whether the port is currently active/assignedor inactive/unassigned. If the port is unassigned, the port may beconsidered logically disconnected. However, if the port is assigned, theport label may be used to identify the network service associated withthe port. For example, the port label may include a service identifier,such as a service identifier listed in the service database 134 (shownin FIG. 1), corresponding to the network service delivered through theport. Alternatively, the port label may include a port identifier fromwhich the disconnection verification computing device 144 identifies thenetwork service associated with the port, such as by performing a lookupin one of the databases 134-142, and determines whether the networkservice indicates that the port has been reassigned.

In certain implementations, the port configuration data may include someor all of a cross-connection table or similar data structure of thenetwork device. A cross-connection table generally provides a mapping ofports across a network device. In other words, a network device mayinclude a first set of ports and a second set of ports that may beconnected through the network device. A cross-connection table of thenetwork device provides a listing of pairings between the first set ofports and the second set of ports. So, for example, the cross-connectiontable may include a full listing of the first or second set of ports andtheir paired ports of the second or first set of ports, respectively (ora suitable indicator if a port is unpaired). Alternatively, thecross-connection table may list only pairs of ports, omitting any portsthat are unpaired.

To the extent the retrieved port configuration data includes across-connection table, determining whether a port is assigned mayinclude determining if the port is included in the cross-connectiontable or is indicated in the cross-connection table as beingcross-connected with a second port of the network device. If the port isindicated as being connected to a second port, the disconnectionverification computing device 144 may further determine whether thesecond port is also part of the disconnected network service path, suchas by performing a corresponding lookup in the databases 134-142containing network service and network equipment data. If both ports areassociated with the network service path of the disconnected service,the disconnection verification computing device 144 may also analyze thesecond port to determines its state and perform any necessary remedialactions (as described below in more detail) to correct the portconfiguration data in the event the second port should be freed.

To the extent the disconnect state of the port indicates that the portis still assigned to the network service and not otherwise placed onhold, the disconnection verification computing device 144 may initiateone or more remedial operations (operation 210). The remedial operationsgenerally include completing disconnection of the port or network deviceincluding the port and updating a corresponding inventory or similardatabase to reflect the disconnection.

In one implementation, a remedial operation may include transmitting analert or similar message to the remote computing device 146 indicatingthat the port had not been fully disconnected. In such implementations,the disconnection verification computing device 144 may further generateone or more remediation tickets corresponding to necessary tasksrequired to disconnect the port and add the remediation tickets to theworkflow ticket database 140. In response to the ticket being completed,the disconnection verification computing system 144 may then update theinventory to reflect that the port and/or network device are nowavailable.

As another example of a remedial operation, the disconnectionverification computing device 144 may transmit a reconfiguration messageincluding one or more scripts or commands to a network device associatedwith a port that should be unassigned/disconnected. When received by thenetwork device, the reconfiguration message causes the network device toautomatically execute the commands of the reconfiguration message. Thecommands generally cause the network device to reconfigure itself tofree the incorrectly assigned port. Such reconfiguration may include,without limitation, one or more of changing settings of the networkdevice and modifying a routing table or similar data stored within thenetwork device. For example, the commands may cause the network deviceto clear an entry within a routing table corresponding to the freedport. The commands may further cause the network device to generate andtransmit a response message to the disconnection verification computingdevice 144 indicating whether the reconfiguration was successful. Incertain implementations, the response message may include the updatedsettings or data stored of the network device such that thereconfiguration can be verified by the disconnection verificationcomputing device 144.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an alternative method 300 forverifying network service disconnections, which may be implemented usinga disconnection verification computing device, such as the disconnectionverification computing device 144 of FIG. 1.

With reference to FIG. 1, the method 300 includes identifying all closedor pending disconnection orders for a network 102 (operation 302). Forexample, the disconnection verification computing device 144 may executea query on the service database 134 to identify any network serviceswith a status indicating that the network service has been, is in theprocess of, or is to be disconnected.

For each service identified as part of operation 302, a correspondinglist of disconnection workflow tasks and tickets may be retrieved fromthe workflow database 138 and the workflow ticket database 140,respectively (operation 304). For each network service identified inoperation 302, the disconnection verification computing device 144 maythen analyze the tickets obtained from the workflow ticket database 140to determine whether the tickets have been completed, to determinewhether tickets corresponding to necessary workflow tasks are missing orwere never issued, or to otherwise identify inconsistencies between thenecessary workflow for disconnecting each network service and the actualissued tickets (operation 306). To the extent any such discrepancies areidentified, the disconnection verification computing device 144 maytransmit an alert or similar remediation message identifying the networkservice and/or specific tasks to the remote computing device 146(operation 308).

The disconnection verification computing device 144 may then retrievenetwork service path information for the identified network services(operation 310). The network service path information generally includesboth physical path information (such as the network devices included inthe network service path) and logical path information (such as thechain of ports used to provide the network service path). In certainimplementations, the entry for each service included in the servicedatabase 134 may include network service path data for the networkservice path along which the respective service is provisioned. Forexample, entries of the service database 134 corresponding to aparticular service identifier may include a list of network deviceidentifiers corresponding to the physical chain of network devices usedin provisioning the service and a list of port identifiers or labelscorresponding to the logical chain of ports used in provisioning theservice. Alternatively, one or more separate data sources may be used tostore the physical and logical path information associated with eachservice included in the service database 134. To facilitate searching,the entries of the one or more separate data sources may include and beorganized based on the service identifier associated with the networkpath information. Accordingly, to obtain the network service pathinformation for a service, the disconnection verification computingdevice 144 may query the service database 134 or other data sourcescontaining the network path information using the service identifierassociated with the service of interest.

For each port identified during operation 310, the disconnectionverification computing device 144 identifies each port that has beenreassigned to provide a second network service or placed on hold(operation 312). In one implementation, the disconnection verificationdetermines whether the port has been reassigned or is otherwise beingreused by conducting a search of known network service paths using eachof a device identifier associated with the network device to which theport belongs and a port identifier associated with the port. In otherwords, the disconnection verification computing device 144 determineswhether unique identifiers associated with the network device and theport appear in one or more other network service paths. If one or moresecond services are identified, the disconnection verification computingdevice 144 may generate an alert or other message identifying theconflict and transmit the message to a network operator for furtherinvestigation and remediation.

The disconnection verification computing device 144 may also determinewhether the port or network device has been placed on hold. Such a holdmay be used to, among other things, preserve a network service pathdespite disconnection of a corresponding service previously providedover the disconnected network service path. For example, if an operatorknows that a service will be only temporarily disconnected a hold may beplaced on the ports or network devices of the corresponding networkservice path to preclude reassignment of the ports or network devices,thereby facilitating reinitiation of the service. In certain instances,whether a hold has been applied to a particular piece of networkequipment or a specific port may be indicated in the inventory database136 or a separate hold list. Accordingly, the disconnection verificationcomputing device 144 may determine whether a particular port or networkdevice is placed on hold by querying the inventory database 136 or holdlist using identifiers associated with the network device and/or port.To the extent a particular port has been placed on hold, no additionalinvestigation is conducted by the disconnection verification computingdevice 144.

For any ports that have not been reassigned or placed on hold, thedisconnection verification computing device 144 retrieves configurationdata from the network device associated with the port, the configurationdata including, without limitation, listings of one or more of portstatuses, port labels, and cross-connections of the network device(operation 314). To do so, the disconnection verification computingdevice 144 generates a configuration data request message and transmitsthe request message to each network device. When received by a networkdevice, the request message causes the network device to execute ascript or similar series of commands stored within the message. Incertain implementations, the commands cause the network device toretrieve configuration or other internal data of the network device,generate a response message including the retrieved data, and transmitthe response message back to the disconnection verification computingdevice 144.

The physical and logical information for each network service is thenanalyzed by the disconnection computing device 144 to identify portsthat are improperly assigned or otherwise not disconnected (operation316). Examples of methods for conducting such analyses are discussedwith respect to the method 200 of FIG. 2.

In certain implementations, the disconnection verification computingdevice 144 may rank the services found to be improperly or incompletelydisconnected in order to prioritize their remediation (operation 318).For example, in certain implementations, the disconnection verificationcomputing device 144 may calculate a cost associated with a port ornetwork device found to be active despite a disconnection order. Suchcost calculations may be made by determining a transport distancebetween the network device and neighboring network devices of thenetwork 102 and multiplying the transport distance by an estimatedtransport cost per unit of transport distance to obtain a totaltransport cost. In other implementations, similar transport costs may bedetermined for larger circuits that may be foreclosed by the unavailableport or network device. The results obtained in operation 318 may bestored and/or used to generate a report or perform other analytics.

Following operation 314, remedial operations may be initiated by thedisconnection verification computing device 144 (operation 320). Aspreviously discussed in the context of the method 200 of FIG. 2, suchremedial operations may include generating messages (including alerts ortickets) and sending the messages to the remote computing device 146.Remedial operations may also include generating reconfiguration messagesincluding scripts or commands to be sent to and executed by networkdevices. In certain implementations, the remedial operations mayincorporate the rankings generated during operation 318. For example, aspart of the remedial operations, the report generated during operation318 may be transmitted to the remote computing device 146. Ticketsgenerated by the disconnection verification computing device 144 mayalso be assigned a priority or otherwise ordered based on the results ofoperation 318. For example, each ticket may be assigned a priority orcategory by the disconnection verification computing device 144 based onthe costs or lost revenue associated with leaving the ticket unresolved.

In certain implementations of the present disclosure, the disconnectionverification computing device 144 may be configured to record orotherwise maintain data corresponding to improperly disconnected networkservices in a log, a database, or some other data source. Suchinformation may then be accessed using the disconnection verificationcomputing device 144 or a remote computing device in communication withthe data source to analyze the recorded data. Such analysis may enablethe identification of root causes of failures to completely disconnectnetwork services and the subsequent addressing of the root causes, suchas by providing additional training to personnel involved indisconnecting network services, improving workflows associated withdisconnecting network services, or taking similar remedial steps.

To facilitate such actions, the disconnection verification computingdevice 144 may log or otherwise store data corresponding to anyincomplete disconnections that it identifies. Such information mayinclude network information corresponding to the incompletelydisconnected service such as, without limitation, one or more of thenetwork device, the port, the network service path, and the networkservice type associated with the incompletely disconnected service. Theinformation may also include information regarding the disconnectionworkflow associated with the improperly disconnected service. Forexample, when the disconnection verification computing device 144identifies an incomplete disconnection workflow ticket, thedisconnection verification computing device 144 may record, withoutlimitation, one or more of an identifier assigned to the ticket, aname/employee identifier of the operator tasked with completing theticket, a date/time of when the ticket was generated, details regardingthe task to be performed according to the ticket, geographicalinformation associated with any equipment to be serviced, and othersimilar information. Based on such data, various statistical or otheranalyses may be conducted to identify trends or potentially problematicelements of the disconnection process. For example, if the collecteddata indicates that incomplete disconnections predominantly occur with aparticular type of network equipment, a network operator may reevaluatehow personnel are trained to disconnect such equipment or determinewhether the current disconnection process is missing one or morecritical steps. Similarly, if the collected data indicates that asignificant or disproportionate number of incomplete disconnections areassociated with a particular employee, the employee may be identified toparticipate in additional training or, in certain extreme cases,termination.

The disconnection verification computing device 144 may also beconfigured to automatically generate and distribute reports regardingincomplete disconnections. Such reports may include tables, graphs, orother data representations corresponding to service disconnections. Thereports may be automatically generated and distributed by thedisconnection verification computing device 144 according to apredetermined schedule or in response to certain events, such as theidentification of a predetermined number of incomplete disconnections.

In certain implementations, the disconnection verification computingdevice 144 may be configured to perform periodic audits/verifications ofsome or all of a network or sub-network over which network services areprovided. To do so, the disconnection verification computing device 144identifies services that should have been disconnected over a period oftime and, for each such service, determines whether such services are,in fact, disconnected. As previously discussed, for example, for eachnetwork service that should be disconnected, the disconnectionverification computing device 144 may identify each network deviceand/or port along a network service path previously used to provide theservice. For each network device and/or port, the disconnectionverification computing device 144 may then retrieve port configurationdata from the corresponding network device and, based on the portconfiguration data, determine the status of ports along the servicepath. The status may indicate, among other things, that the port hasactually been freed for reuse to provide another service, that the portis being used to provide a different network service, that the port hasbeen placed on hold, or that the port is incorrectly still assigned tothe disconnected network service. Based on the status, the disconnectionverification computing device 144 may initiate remedial actions, such asreconfiguring the network device to free the port.

Referring to FIG. 4, a schematic illustration of an example computingsystem 400 having one or more computing units that may implement varioussystems and methods discussed herein is provided. It will be appreciatedthat specific implementations of these devices may be of differingpossible specific computing architectures not all of which arespecifically discussed herein but will be understood by those ofordinary skill in the art.

The computer system 400 may be a computing system capable of executing acomputer program product to execute a computer process. Data and programfiles may be input to computer system 400, which reads the files andexecutes the programs therein. Some of the elements of the computersystem 400 are shown in FIG. 4, including one or more hardwareprocessors 402, one or more data storage devices 404, one or more memorydevices 408, and/or one or more ports 408-412. Additionally, otherelements that will be recognized by those skilled in the art may beincluded in the computing system 400 but are not explicitly depicted inFIG. 4 or discussed further herein. Various elements of the computersystem 400 may communicate with one another by way of one or morecommunication buses, point-to-point communication paths, or othercommunication means not explicitly depicted in FIG. 4.

The processor 402 may include, for example, a central processing unit(CPU), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor(DSP), and/or one or more internal levels of cache. There may be one ormore processors 402, such that the processor 402 comprises a singlecentral-processing unit, or a plurality of processing units capable ofexecuting instructions and performing operations in parallel with eachother, commonly referred to as a parallel processing environment.

The computer system 400 may be a conventional computer, a distributedcomputer, or any other type of computer, such as one or more externalcomputers made available via a cloud computing architecture. Thepresently described technology is optionally implemented in softwarestored on data storage device(s) 404, stored on memory device(s) 406,and/or communicated via one or more of the ports 408-412, therebytransforming the computer system 400 in FIG. 4 to a special purposemachine for implementing the operations described herein. Examples ofthe computer system 400 include personal computers, terminals,workstations, mobile phones, tablets, laptops, personal computers,multimedia consoles, gaming consoles, set top boxes, and the like.

One or more data storage devices 404 may include any non-volatile datastorage device capable of storing data generated or employed within thecomputing system 400, such as computer executable instructions forperforming a computer process, which may include instructions of bothapplication programs and an operating system (OS) that manages thevarious components of the computing system 400. Data storage devices 404may include, without limitation, magnetic disk drives, optical diskdrives, solid state drives (SSDs), flash drives, and the like. Datastorage devices 404 may include removable data storage media,non-removable data storage media, and/or external storage devices madeavailable via a wired or wireless network architecture with suchcomputer program products, including one or more database managementproducts, web server products, application server products, and/or otheradditional software components. Examples of removable data storage mediainclude Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile DiscRead-Only Memory (DVD-ROM), magneto-optical disks, flash drives, and thelike. Examples of non-removable data storage media include internalmagnetic hard disks, SSDs, and the like. One or more memory devices 406may include volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM),static random access memory (SRAM), etc.) and/or non-volatile memory(e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.).

Computer program products containing mechanisms to effectuate thesystems and methods in accordance with the presently describedtechnology may reside in the data storage devices 404 and/or the memorydevices 406, which may be referred to as machine-readable media. It willbe appreciated that machine-readable media may include any tangiblenon-transitory medium that is capable of storing or encodinginstructions to perform any one or more of the operations of the presentdisclosure for execution by a machine or that is capable of storing orencoding data structures and/or modules utilized by or associated withsuch instructions. Machine-readable media may include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) that store the one or more executableinstructions or data structures.

In some implementations, the computer system 400 includes one or moreports, such as an input/output (I/O) port 408, a communication port 410,and a sub-systems port 412, for communicating with other computing,network, or vehicle devices. It will be appreciated that the ports408-412 may be combined or separate and that more or fewer ports may beincluded in the computer system 400.

The I/O port 408 may be connected to an I/O device, or other device, bywhich information is input to or output from the computing system 400.Such I/O devices may include, without limitation, one or more inputdevices, output devices, and/or environment transducer devices.

In one implementation, the input devices convert a human-generatedsignal, such as, human voice, physical movement, physical touch orpressure, and/or the like, into electrical signals as input data intothe computing system 400 via the I/O port 408. Similarly, the outputdevices may convert electrical signals received from the computingsystem 400 via the I/O port 408 into signals that may be sensed asoutput by a human, such as sound, light, and/or touch. The input devicemay be an alphanumeric input device, including alphanumeric and otherkeys for communicating information and/or command selections to theprocessor 402 via the I/O port 408. The input device may be another typeof user input device including, but not limited to: direction andselection control devices, such as a mouse, a trackball, cursordirection keys, a joystick, and/or a wheel; one or more sensors, such asa camera, a microphone, a positional sensor, an orientation sensor, agravitational sensor, an inertial sensor, and/or an accelerometer;and/or a touch-sensitive display screen (“touchscreen”). The outputdevices may include, without limitation, a display, a touchscreen, aspeaker, a tactile and/or haptic output device, and/or the like. In someimplementations, the input device and the output device may be the samedevice, for example, in the case of a touchscreen.

The environment transducer devices convert one form of energy or signalinto another for input into or output from the computing system 400 viathe I/O port 408. For example, an electrical signal generated within thecomputing system 400 may be converted to another type of signal, and/orvice-versa. In one implementation, the environment transducer devicessense characteristics or aspects of an environment local to or remotefrom the computing device 400, such as, light, sound, temperature,pressure, magnetic field, electric field, chemical properties, physicalmovement, orientation, acceleration, gravity, and/or the like. Further,the environment transducer devices may generate signals to impose someeffect on the environment either local to or remote from the example thecomputing device 400, such as, physical movement of some object (e.g., amechanical actuator), heating or cooling of a substance, adding achemical substance, and/or the like.

In one implementation, a communication port 410 is connected to anetwork by way of which the computer system 400 may receive network datauseful in executing the methods and systems set out herein as well astransmitting information and network configuration changes determinedthereby. Stated differently, the communication port 410 connects thecomputer system 400 to one or more communication interface devicesconfigured to transmit and/or receive information between the computingsystem 400 and other devices by way of one or more wired or wirelesscommunication networks or connections. Examples of such networks orconnections include, without limitation, Universal Serial Bus (USB),Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, Near Field Communication (NFC), Long-TermEvolution (LTE), and so on. One or more such communication interfacedevices may be utilized via communication port 410 to communicate one ormore other machines, either directly over a point-to-point communicationpath, over a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet), over a localarea network (LAN), over a cellular (e.g., third generation (3G) orfourth generation (4G)) network, or over another communication means.Further, the communication port 410 may communicate with an antenna forelectromagnetic signal transmission and/or reception.

The computer system 400 may include a sub-systems port 412 forcommunicating with one or more external systems. Such systems may, forexample, be associated with a vehicle and may control an operation ofthe vehicle and/or exchange information between the computer system 400and one or more sub-systems of the vehicle. Examples of such sub-systemsinclude, without limitation, imaging systems, radar, lidar, motorcontrollers and systems, battery systems, fuel cell or other energystorage systems, or controls in the case of vehicles with hybrid orelectric motor systems, autonomous or semi-autonomous processors andcontrollers, steering systems, brake systems, light systems, navigationsystems, environment controls, entertainment systems, and the like.

The system set forth in FIG. 4 is but one possible example of a computersystem that may employ or be configured in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. It will be appreciated that other non-transitorytangible computer-readable storage media storing computer-executableinstructions for implementing the presently disclosed technology on acomputing system may be utilized.

In the present disclosure, the methods disclosed may be implemented assets of instructions or software readable by a device. Further, it isunderstood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methodsdisclosed are instances of example approaches. Based upon designpreferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy ofsteps in the method can be rearranged while remaining within thedisclosed subject matter. The accompanying method claims presentelements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not necessarilymeant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

The described disclosure may be provided as a computer program product,or software, that may include a non-transitory machine-readable mediumhaving stored thereon instructions, which may be used to program acomputer system (or other electronic devices) to perform a processaccording to the present disclosure. A machine-readable medium includesany mechanism for storing information in a form (e.g., software,processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Themachine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magneticstorage medium, optical storage medium; magneto-optical storage medium,read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); erasableprogrammable memory (e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or othertypes of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tovarious implementations, it will be understood that theseimplementations are illustrative and that the scope of the presentdisclosure is not limited to them. Many variations, modifications,additions, and improvements are possible. More generally, embodiments inaccordance with the present disclosure have been described in thecontext of particular implementations. Functionality may be separated orcombined in blocks differently in various embodiments of the disclosureor described with different terminology. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope ofthe disclosure as defined in the claims that follow.

It should be understood from the foregoing that, while particularembodiments have been illustrated and described, various modificationscan be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changesand modifications are within the scope and teachings of this inventionas defined in the claims appended thereto.

We claim:
 1. A method of disconnecting a network service provided over anetwork service path using a computing device including a processor, themethod comprising: obtaining, by the computing device, a serviceidentifier assigned to the network service; identifying, using theprocessor, a port of a network device included in the network servicepath using the service identifier; transmitting a request to the networkdevice for port configuration data of the network device; receiving, atthe computing device and in response to the request, the portconfiguration data of the network device; determining, using theprocessor, that the port is assigned to the network service from theport configuration data; and executing, using the computing device, aremediation operation in response to determining the port is assigned tothe network service, the remediation operation including transmitting areconfiguration command to the network device, wherein thereconfiguration command is adapted to cause the network device to updatethe port configuration data to free the port.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein identifying the port of the network device comprises querying aservice path data source using the service identifier to retrievenetwork service path data, the network service path data including alist of ports used to provision the network service, the list of portsincluding the port of the network device.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the request for the port configuration data includes at leastone command executable by the network device that causes the networkdevice to retrieve the configuration data from a memory of the networkdevice, generate a configuration data response message including theconfiguration data, and transmit the configuration data response messageto the computing device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the portconfiguration data includes a port label including a second serviceidentifier and determining that the port is assigned to the networkservice comprises determining that the second service identifier is thesame as the service identifier of the network service obtained by thecomputing device.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the portconfiguration data includes a port status indicating the port is one ofactive and inactive and determining the port is assigned to the networkservice comprises determining the port is active based on the portstatus.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the port configuration dataincludes cross-connection data indicating cross-connections between setsof ports of the network device and determining the port is assigned tothe network service comprises determining the port is included in thecross-connection data.
 7. The method of claim 1 further comprisingdetermining that the port has not been reassigned to a second networkservice.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining that the port hasnot been reassigned to the second network service comprises one or moreof: determining, by performing a lookup of the port in a port inventory,that the port is not used to provide the second network service, theport inventory correlating ports of network devices to serviceidentifiers of network services provided by the ports of networkdevices, and determining that a port label included in the portconfiguration data does not include a second service identifier assignedto the second network service, the second service identifier beingdifferent from the service identifier received by the computing device.9. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a hold has notbeen placed on the port.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein determiningwhether a hold has been placed on the port comprises one or more of:querying a hold list using a port identifier assigned to the port, thehold list including port identifiers for ports placed on hold, anddetermining that a port label of the port included in the portconfiguration data does not indicate the port is placed on hold.
 11. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising: generating a remediation ticketidentifying at least one of the network device or the port; andtransmitting the remediation ticket to a remote computing device. 12.The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the port of the networkdevice comprises querying an inventory using the service identifier, theinventory including entries for at least one of a list of networkdevices or a list of network ports, each entry including a serviceidentifier for a service provided using the network device or the portcorresponding to the entry.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinexecuting the remediation operation further comprises updating an entryof the inventory corresponding to at least one of the network device orthe port by removing the respective service identifier of the entry. 14.The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration data includescross-connection data identifying a second port cross-connected to theport, and executing the remediation operation further comprises updatinga second entry of the inventory corresponding to at least one of thesecond port or a second network device associated with the second portby removing the respective service identifier of the second entry. 15.The method of claim 1, further comprising: retrieving, using the serviceidentifier, a disconnection workflow for disconnecting the networkservice, the disconnection workflow comprising a plurality ofdisconnection task tickets; for each task ticket of the disconnectionworkflow, determining a respective status of the task ticket;determining that one or more task tickets of the disconnection workfloware incomplete based on the respective status; and for each incompletetask, transmitting a notification to a remote computing deviceidentifying the incomplete task.
 16. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: calculating a transport cost associated with a circuitincluding the port; and assigning a remediation rank to the remediationoperation based, at least in part, on the transport cost.
 17. The methodof claim 16, wherein the remediation operation is one of a plurality ofremediation operations, each remediation operation of the plurality ofmediation operations being assigned a respective remediation rank, andwherein the plurality of remediation operations are executed in an orderbased on their respective remediation rank.
 18. A method ofdisconnecting network services provided over one or more networks, eachnetwork service associated with a service identifier, the methodexecutable by a computing device communicatively coupled to the one ormore networks, the method comprising: for each network service:retrieving network service path data for a network service pathpreviously used to provide the disconnected network service, the networkpath data including a port identifier corresponding to a port along thenetwork service path; identifying a network device including the port byquerying an inventory database using the port identifier, the inventorydatabase storing a list of network devices and port identifiersassociated with each of the network devices; transmitting a request tothe network device, the request configured to automatically cause thenetwork device to retrieve port configuration data of the network deviceand transmit the port configuration data to the computing device;receiving, in response to transmitting the request, the portconfiguration data; determining from the port configuration data thatthe port is still assigned to provide the disconnected network service;and in response to determining the port is still assigned to the networkservice, transmitting a reconfiguration command to the network device,wherein the reconfiguration command is adapted to cause the networkdevice to update the port configuration data to free the port.
 19. Themethod of claim 18 further comprising: determining from the portconfiguration data that the port is cross-connected to a second port;and reconfiguring the network device to update the port configurationdata to free the second port.
 20. A system for disconnecting networkservices in a telecommunications network, the system comprising: acomputing device communicatively couplable to a plurality of storagesystems and a network for providing network services, the computingdevice configured to: obtain a service identifier assigned to thenetwork service; identify a port of a network device included in thenetwork service path using the service identifier; transmit a request tothe network device for port configuration data of the network device;receive, in response to the request, the port configuration data of thenetwork device; determine that the port is assigned to the networkservice from the port configuration data; and execute a remediationoperation in response to determining the port is assigned to the networkservice, the remediation operation including transmitting areconfiguration command to the network device, wherein thereconfiguration command is adapted to cause the network device to updatethe port configuration data to free the port.